KidStuff PR is a public relations firm dealing with toy stores, toy manufacturers and performers for children. The design won a Summit Creative Award (Bronze) and appears in the books American Corporate Identity 16, The New Big Book of Logos, New Logo World (Japan), Graphically Speaking, and Logo Design for Small Business 2.

In 1980, my first year out of college, ad agency owner Al Bauer asked me to design an abstract icon to identify his firm. Early in the process he selected this design - which most likely evolved out of my interest in the minimalist logo imagery I studied in school during the 1970's - thinking it represented how advertising was orderly until something went completely out of whack. About a week later he realized it was very abstract lower-case a and b letterforms.

American TelecomClient: American TelecomLocation: Portland, OR USA

This logo re-design, executed in 1997, appears in the books The New Big Book of Logos (HBI, USA, 2000), New Logo: Two (Page One Publishing, Singapore, 2004) and The New Big Book of Logos (Paper, Harper Design, USA, 2003). The design was also honored with an American Corporate Identity award and, as a result, was featured in the volume American Corporate Identity ‘99 (HBI, USA, 1998).

The logo for a technical, business and grant writer appears, in its various forms, in the books New Logo & Trademark Design (Japan), Logo and Trademark Collection (Japan), Print's Regional Design Annual, the Japanese book Logo World, Letterhead and Logo Design 7, Logo Design for Small Business 2, The Big Book of Logos 3, and the Spanish book Logos: From North to South America.

The Jeff Fisher LogoMotives designs showcased (above) are the logo for the North Portland Business Association (representing businesses in the designer's own neighborhood) and the safe sex self-promotion design for A Rubber's Ducky.

The identity re-design for the North Portland Business Association took the industrial history of the area, prominent landmarks and the familiar local blue heron into consideration as design elements. The symbol also appears in the books Logos From North to South America (Spain) and the Big Book of Logos 5.

A duck's head doubling as the shape of a condom, with a reservoir-tip, was a subtle "life preserver" message in the A Rubber's Ducky safe sex image. The logo appears in the books New Logo & Trademark Design (Japan), The New Big Book of Logos, LogoLounge - Volume 1, New Logo & Trademark Collection (Japan) and Logos from North to South America (Spain).

The designer has received over 600 design awards and his work has been published in more than 160 books on identity design, self-promotion and the marketing of small businesses. He often travels – nationally and internationally – to present courses, seminars and workshops on design, branding, marketing and social networking. In addition, Fisher is a nationally-recognized speaker, making numerous presentations each year to design organizations, design schools, universities and business groups.

[Over the 30+ years I've worked professionally as a designer, interesting side stories have come up about my identity designs. This is one of an ongoing series of "Logodotes" - anecdotes about my logo designs.]

It's always interesting to be contacted by a nonprofit organization with a request to design a logo pro bono. I get numerous such requests each month. These days, to give myself permission to politely decline some inquiries, I only consider donating my services if the project is related to education, nonprofit performing arts groups, children's causes, HIV/AIDS or issues in which I have a strong personal interest.

I had certainly heard of the Cat Adoption Team (C.A.T.), the Pacific Northwest’s largest nonprofit, limited admission cat shelter with its own on-site full-service veterinary hospital. My initial contact with the organization came via an email from a graphic designer doing volunteer work for C.A.T. She explained that she was a fan of my own identity design work and asked if I would possibly consider designing a new logo for C.A.T. as it approached its tenth anniversary celebration.

After expressing my interest in taking on the project, an appointment was made with the woman who was the group's Executive Director at the time. I appreciated the advertising and marketing background of this individual. She had a great understanding of branding - and the fact that the logo in use at the time (above left) may have served the agency well in its first decade, but it was time to convey a stronger, more professional and memorable public persona. With the emotional and historical investment in the existing logo, the was certainly a "never tell a potential client their logo sucks" situation. Personally, I felt the hand-drawn logo, with one black cat looking outside a window while another looked in, projected a melancholy and somewhat sinister image.

My hope was to create a simple, memorable logo, that would be appeal to both adults and children, as an identifier for the group. With the gift of an organization name acronym creating the primary word associated with the cause, I set about the design a logo turning C.A.T. into the graphic image of the animal. I got increasingly excited as I doodled (above right) and saw a recognizable cat form taking shape within the name.

My excitement was shared by the Executive Director when I explained the direction in which I was taking the project. As I fine-tuned the concept, I opted to make use of letterforms from the font Frankfurter to form the cat and then be used to spell out the organization name. The roundness of the letters created a soft, friendly, inviting design (above) for review by the client Board of Directors. The Executive Director seemed very pleased by my effort and felt it could successfully take C.A.T. into its second decade with a clever and professional graphic identity.

The Board of Directors did not agree. The Executive Director shared that the board members did not feel the design was "warm and fuzzy enough" to successfully represent the cause. She then graciously offered me an opportunity that no previous client had suggested. Given the fact I had donated my time and invested so much energy, into a design that I was convinced would best serve C.A.T and the Board of Directors disagreed; she was allowing me to remove myself from the situation if I chose to do so.

I accepted her offer to separate myself from the project. Afterwards I learned that other designers had less than successful past business relationships with the agency, too. The combination of a mostly volunteer organization, the historical and emotional attachments to the group's past designs, a voting Board of Directors sometimes becoming a "design by committee' presence, and other elements can make such projects challenging - for the designer and the client.

Soon after ending my participation in the C.A.T. project, I received a call-for-entries for a book to display 50 of the best international rejected, or "killed," design concepts. The C.A.T. logo concept design got a second life when it was accepted for publication in the book Killed Ideas: Vol 1.

What became of the need for a Cat Adoption Team logo design? Well, another designer (if I knew the name I would post it here) did take on the project and successfully created an identity for C.A.T. (above). It seems that the organization got their more literal and "warm and fuzzy" feline representation within the logo design. It has been used as the agency's identity for some time now.

I had an immediate critical, rather than personal or bitchy, reaction to the new logo when first seeing it - and other logo designers have emailed me with similar thoughts. With the illustrative cat's head resting on the "C" letterform, that letter seems to visually close creating a noose-like appearance - or the cat's head seems to resting in wait for the falling of a guillotine blade or the ax of a a public executioner. Perhaps not the best graphic message for a "no-kill" cat shelter.

In 1981, fresh out of college, I was hired to create the logo for the Robinwood Center retail mall. The image was created on illustration board with a rapidiograph pen.

For The BirdsClient: For The BirdsLocation: Portland, OR USA

For The Birds was created for a friend who was planning on opening a bird house store. The logo is featured in the books New Logo & Trademark Design (P.I.E. Books, Japan, 1998), Bullet-Proof Logos (HBI, USA, 2000), The New Big Book of Logos (HBI, USA, 2000) and Logo & Trademark Collection (P.I.E. Books, Japan, 2004),.

This icon was created for Walk Your Talk, an urban sportswear company that projects a positive message with their products. The design has been featured in the books Logos from North to South America (Index Book, Spain, 2005), Logos Cafe (Page One, Singapore, 2005), Fashion Identity (Index Book, Spain, 2007) and Logos from North to South America (Paper-mini, Index Book, Spain, 2007).

About Me

Jeff Fisher, author of "Identity Crisis!" (HOW Books, 2007), is the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives. He has been honored with over 600 regional, national and international design awards and is featured in over 140 books about logos, the design business, and small business marketing. His first book, "The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success" was released in 2004 and has been reissued as a PDF on CD from MyDesignShop.com. Other books are currently in the works. Fisher serves on the HOW Magazine Board of Advisors, HOW Design Conference Advisory Council and Art Institute of Portland Professional Advisory Council,. The designer also writes for HOW Magazine, other industry publications, and many webzines and blogs. In addition, Fisher is a nationally-recognized speaker, making numerous presentations each year to design organizations, design schools, universities and business groups. Graphic Design USA magazine named Jeff Fisher one of the design industry “People to Watch” in 2009. Fisher lives in Portland with his partner of 20+ years, Ed Cunningham.